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The most significant surprise the film industry has witnessed in 2025? The comeback of horror as a dominant force at the UK box office.

As a style, it has notably exceeded previous years with a annual growth of 22% for the British and Irish cinemas: over £83 million this year, against £68,612,395 in 2024.

“In the past year, not a single horror movie hit £10 million in UK or Irish theaters. Now, five have achieved that,” comments a cinema revenue expert.

The top performers of the year – Weapons (£11.4m), Sinners (£16.2 million), the latest Conjuring installment (£14.98m) and the sequel to a classic (£15.54 million) – have all stayed in the theaters and in the popular awareness.

Although much of the industry commentary highlights the standout quality of certain directors, their achievements indicate something shifting between moviegoers and the style.

“Many have expressed, ‘You should watch this even if horror isn’t your thing,’” explains a content buying lead.

“Films like these play with genre and structure to create something completely different, and that speaks to an audience in a different way.”

But outside of creative value, the consistent popularity of spooky films this year suggests they are giving cinemagoers something that’s much needed: catharsis.

“Currently, cinema mirrors the widespread anger, fear, and societal splits,” says a film commentator.

“Scary movies excel at tapping into viewers' fears, amplifying them, allowing you to set aside daily worries and concentrate on the on-screen terror,” explains a respected writer of horror film history.

In the context of a current events featuring geopolitical strife, enforcement actions, extremist rises, and ecological disasters, supernatural beings and undead creatures strike a unique chord with filmg oers.

“Some research suggests vampire film popularity correlates with financial downturns,” states an star from a recent horror hit.

“It’s the idea that capitalism sucks the life out of people.”

From film's inception, societal turmoil has shaped horror.

Analysts point to the boom of German expressionism after the the Great War and the unstable environment of the early Weimar Republic, with films such as classic silent horror and Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.

This was followed by the economic crisis of the 30s and Universal Studios’ Frankenstein and The Wolfman.

“Take Dracula: it depicts an Eastern European figure invading Britain, spreading a metaphorical infection that endangers local protagonists,” says a historian.

“Therefore, it embodies concerns related to foreign influx.”

The specter of border issues shaped the just-premiered supernatural tale The Severed Sun.

Its writer-director elaborates: “I wanted to explore ideas around the rise of populism. Firstly, slogans like ‘Let’s Make Britain Great Again’, that harken back to some fantasy time when things were ‘better’, but only if you were a rich white man.”

“Secondly, the idea that you could be with someone you know and then suddenly they blurt out something round the dinner table or in a Facebook post and you’re like, ‘Where did that come from?’”

Maybe, the current era of praised, culturally aware scary films commenced with a brilliant satire released a year after a divisive leadership period.

It sparked a fresh generation of visionary directors, including several notable names.

“It was a hugely exciting time,” says a creator whose movie about a murderous foetus was one of the time's landmark films.

“I think it was the beginning of an era when people were opening up to doing a really bonkers horror film which had arthouse aspirations.”

The same filmmaker, who is writing a new horror original, adds: “In the last ten years, public taste has evolved to welcome bolder horror concepts.”

At the same time, there has been a reappraisal of the overlooked scary films.

Earlier this year, a nicke l venue opened in the capital, showing obscure movies such as a quirky horror title, The Fall of the House of Usher and the modern reinterpretation of Dr Caligari.

The re-appreciation of this “gritty and loud” genre is, according to the cinema founder, a clear response to the calculated releases pumped out at the cinemas.

“This responds to the sterile output from major studios. Today's cinema is safer and more repetitive. Many popular movies feel identical,” he explains.

“Conversely, [such movies] appear raw. As if they emerged straight from the artist's mind, untouched by studio control.”

Scary movies continue to challenge the norm.

“Horror possesses a dual nature, feeling both classic and current simultaneously,” says an expert.

In addition to the return of the mad scientist trope – with several renditions of a classic novel upcoming – he anticipates we will see scary movies in the coming years addressing our current anxieties: about artificial intelligence control in the near future and “monstrous metaphors in power structures”.

Meanwhile, “Jesus horror” The Carpenter’s Son – which depicts the events of holy family challenges after Jesus’s birth, and features famous performers as the sacred figures – is planned for launch in the coming months, and will definitely cause a stir through the religious conservatives in the United States.</